Chapter 3 Toshiro Diary (1)

Nakajima Team (16th Division) Ohno Troops (20th Wing) Nishizaki Force (First Battalion) Moriyama Team (Third Squadron) Uchiyama Squad (Third Squad) Toshiro Showa Twelve Years [Showa, the Japanese era name, the fifteenth year of Taisho (ie 1926) was changed to the first year of Showa.The twelfth year of the Showa era is 1937].On August 26, he was ordered to go to North China.In order to attack Nanjing, it passed through Dalian. This diary, which probably requires many pages to describe, will become the most emotional and best memory in my life.I want to record the truth on the battlefield here.Only by describing the truth can we truly understand the thoughts and actions of the soldiers on the battlefield.Since we want to record the truth, we must record the beauty and ugliness on the battlefield.

Although they are Japanese soldiers, not all of them are military gods. They are also human beings who have contradictions between integrity and evil, beauty and ugliness.Here, I want to describe the real situation of myself and our troops participating in the war, and at the same time, describe the images and thoughts of the soldiers according to the true colors of the facts.Despite the restrictions of public opinion and the restraint of soldiers and other heavy internal and external pressures, I want to get rid of all these and only record truthfully from the standpoint of one person. The real situation on the battlefield will only emerge in the depths of the mind of a completely free person who is not bound by anything outside or outside.It can be said that almost all the content reported by the press is mixed with exaggeration and falsehood.Moreover, again through the cover-up of the Japanese government's propaganda agencies, the truth is often deliberately concealed.After being filtered by this kind of water filter, everything becomes a puddle of clear water in front of people.The battlefield is definitely not a flood of beautiful scenes.War itself is ugly, so why paint it as a chain of good things?

What is war? The word "war" is a general pronoun for cruelty, misery, tyranny, arson, massacre, etc., which are inhuman and extremely evil. The so-called war is an incomparably huge pocket of demons that includes all inhuman crimes. It poisons living beings, destroys fertile fields, destroys houses, tyrannizes wantonly, destroys culture, turns the world into hell, and turns countless souls into ghosts. . — This is war. What is justice? Justice is power, and only power is justice.Everything is nothing more than the law of the jungle. Humanity and all other beauty, morality, justice and might are weak.

What exactly is holy massacre? With what kind of knowledge can we recognize the fact of multiple existences? The battle continued, and news of victory came frequently.However, there was no joy of victory at all.Even if there was, it was only temporary like a short cry. - Gorky said. Is that so? The god of peace can only walk with the god of war. — said Hitler. Should war, then, be thought of as the protector of the peace, the creator, or as the husband who loves his wife? Do you think the reality of war lies in brutality, or in destruction?No!Reality exists in sentimentality.However, that kind of sentimentality is definitely not that of a lingering woman.It seemed the greatest pain, it seemed the endless sorrow, it seemed the sentimentality of a cry of eternal resentment.Regardless of whether the person who is hostile to our country is Sakyamuni or Christ, Confucius or Mencius, or Muhammad, as long as we are in a hostile position, we Japanese will categorically destroy him.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident in Beijing broke out on July 7, Showa Twelfth Year.It became the beginning of the Rizhi Incident (Japanese name for China's War of Resistance Against Japan) Japan's name for China's War of Resistance Against Japan. At 7 o'clock in the morning on August 26, I received a call-up order. On the thirty-first day, I set off as if nothing had happened.Father is still ill.While praying for my elderly father to live a healthy life, I bid farewell to him.On September 1st, my mother and Zhongyi came to say goodbye to me, and we met upstairs in the hotel.Mother was calm, and so was Shigeichi.Then, the mother said: "This is a priceless expedition. You can go happily! If unfortunately you are caught by the Chinese soldiers, you will commit suicide by cutting open your stomach! Because I have three sons, it doesn't matter if one of you dies." Then , she gave me a dagger engraved with words.How happy my mother's words made me.I think mothers are great.There is no better way to know the greatness of mother than at this time.So, I swore firmly in my heart - I will gladly die!

My adoptive mother cried and broke up with me.She wanted me to come back alive, she begged me to come back alive. My biological mother said goodbye to me with a smile, a calm conversation, and an encouragement to die. The adoptive mother lives in the countryside, and the biological mother lives in the city.I think the feelings of the two women are somewhat different. Urban people are well-informed, while rural people are ignorant.Not only that, there may be other reasons. How to evaluate these two mothers? On the way to the checkpoint, I was talking to my mother, and I begged my mother: If I die, please adopt Shigeichi to Kawasuke's family (referring to Toshiro's adoptive mother's family.).Mother happily agreed.I got my mother's happy and refreshing promise, and I felt like a clear sky in my heart, without any nostalgia or regret.

At last it was September 5th.I have always firmly believed that the most loyal soldiers are not first-class soldiers, first-class soldiers, or second-class soldiers. They just refer to soldiers who die bravely without hesitation as soldiers of the empire.So I want to be this kind of loyal and brave soldier.What joy there is in this bubbly life!How much excess there is in this joy!At seven o'clock in the evening, we set off from the camp. In order to echo the people full of patriotic enthusiasm, the team took a long way to the station.The crowd was crowded and sent us off amidst cheers.Soldiers who found acquaintances among the crowd said goodbye to everyone one by one.I gritted my teeth and moved forward while immersed in a heavy heart of utter loyalty to the country.

I have already understood all this, and I will never turn back, so no matter what kind of situation arises, I will not be surprised, and I can calmly wait for them to come. Therefore, I take this kind of mass gathering, cheering, and boiling enthusiasm calmly, watching calmly and calmly, and only responding with a gentle smile.Heads and hands protruding from all the windows of the train, and a dense forest of heads, chests, and arms protruding from the railings of the platform undulate like waves.Their hands seemed to be blown by the wind, and they kept waving up and down, drawing circles one after another.They are like butterflies, some dance fast, some dance slowly, and some stop there.From their mouths flowed love and passion like raging waves.

The beloved wife of the Noguchi reserve soldier ran around, looking for the figure of her dear husband. Noguchi also yelled several times and waved his hand several times, but the wife did not notice her husband.The wife's deep parting sentiments are conveyed to her husband through this warm atmosphere. "Woo--" A whistle shot across the sky like an arrow, and the locomotive spewed white smoke and boomed.The train moved on.The shouts of the crowd resounded even more loudly in the night sky. "Long live! Long live!" Only this sentence. — a great symphony, a score of passionate emotion.

Amidst the high intertwining of love, parting, encouragement, affection and many other emotions, the train pulled out of the platform, leaving behind people's passionate "long live" cheers. Along the way, whether it is one o'clock in the morning or two o'clock in the morning, there is an endless stream of people, lighting a red bonfire full of sincerity, waiting for the short moment when the train passes.They lit bonfires beside the railroads to send cheers to their warriors. We offer them our wordless salute with immense gratitude and a vow of triumph. I stayed in Daoxiuding (Daoxiuding, place name. Ding, equivalent to a town or street in China) pharmacy in Osaka for two days.At this time, a person who loved me and loved me with all her heart came to see me with her mother.Saw her at the farewell a week ago and she had visibly lost weight.I feel sorry for her.

I sent her on the Keihan Railway, probably this time it was a farewell. On September 8, it finally broke out towards the third breakwater.It was hot as hell.I have never worked long hours, so I get tired quickly.The pain in the back penetrated into the shoulder one by one, and the swollen shoulder bone made a "click, click, click" sound.On the way, people in Osaka gave me medicine.The soldiers, like chewing glass, crushed the ice sent by the citizens with their mouths making battle cries. Some wiped their foreheads and cheeks with ice water, and some threw it on their backs to cool their bodies, and walked forward. The breakwater is full of horses, soldiers and shovels. At first, the military horses were hoisted from the sky by large cranes.The ship we took was a newly built 6,500-ton ship - "Zenyang Maru". The strong crew told us that this ship is going to sea for the second time including this time, and it went to Shanghai on its maiden voyage last time. After the task of loading the horses and luggage on board, our first brigade boarded the ship from the ladder on the side of the ship. . The send-off people who were blocked outside the fence of the breakwater swarmed towards the side of the ship as soon as they were allowed.Up and down are calling each other's name, both to encourage and to answer.The tape sellers slipped through the crowd.Red, blue and white ribbons are thrown upwards from below, and countless colorful ribbons sway in the wind-connecting soldiers and those who see them off.Wives hold ribbons for husbands, parents hold ribbons for sons, friends hold ribbons for friends.People are excited and excited.Now is the time when the dearest ones are about to go to war, now is the time to say goodbye to the ones we love the most, and now is the last moment when we are going to go forever from their sight to a distant place. Amidst the moving and excited shouts that surpassed the raging waves, the Shanyang Maru quietly finished the work before sailing. Just like cherishing the touch and excitement of parting, the ribbon rings held in people's hands stretched until the last turn. I don't have a ribbon to hold.I don't know any of them.Now, what need do I have to seek out one of them?I watched the scene quietly.I don't have any emotion or excitement, because I have power beyond emotion. The huge ship turns its head towards the battlefield!It was 3:25 p.m. on September 8th. The wind and rain began to rage.The superb view of the Seto Inland Sea leaked away in the middle of the night.At night, the wind and rain have stopped, and the breeze is blowing, cool and pleasant.I climbed on the aft deck, smoking a cigarette, and looking out at the city with its lights on land. what!Farewell to Japanese cities built of paper and wood! There was a sound of propellers under my feet, and I felt a violent rotation.With the refreshing sea breeze blowing on my cheeks, I felt neither sadness nor nostalgia.It seemed to me not that the ship was going to war, but that it was a pleasant trip on a pleasant night.The gigantic ship of thousands of tons moved forward under the bright lights, like a city that never sleeps. Private Ishida, who was as funny as a magician, sang "Shanghai Airway".With the accompaniment of the propeller, his bel canto songs are pathetic and sentimental.After the rain stopped, the summer night was breezy, and I stood on the deck at the stern, looking at the lights of the cities of my motherland that were fading away. The night Private Ishida sang "Shanghai Airway" was really unforgettable. The next day was Nine Days, I woke up at five o'clock in the morning, got on the deck, washed my face and smoked a cigarette, a cigarette of savory. The refreshing morning breeze from the Seto Inland Sea made people feel that it was purifying us blood.The sun has not yet risen, "Shanyang Pill" runs towards China in the thin morning light, and then runs again.As the horizon turned white and red, islands of all sizes began to appear in the field of vision.The boat drove for a while, and what I saw on the left might be the island of Shikoku. It is not so much an island as it is a large piece of land.After driving for a while, land was seen again on the left.The soldiers yelled: "It's Shikoku! It's Kyushu!" Our Colonel Ohno, who was looking through the binoculars in the captain's room, called me: "Hey! Lieutenant! What you see over there is Shikoku. Go and tell them!" After I saluted, I walked towards the soldiers. "I heard it was Shikoku." I told them. I saw the swirling vortex.Dozens of ships of 5,000 to 6,000 tons are floating in the Kanmon Strait. This is the first time I have seen such a scenery.The notice said that letters brought from the mainland (inland, the old Japanese name for Japan as opposed to colonies) were allowed to be sent here for the last time.The ship stopped at eleven o'clock in the morning on the 9th.At six o'clock in the afternoon, the boat started its engine again. It was raining again at this time, so I covered my head with oiled paper and stood on the deck, thinking about it.The last day of the motherland.At night, I saw a city, probably Yawata (八欢, Japan's famous steel base.), where there are many lights.Like the beacon of justice, the crimson soul of fire and the lights burned blazingly, reflecting the night sky brilliantly.The Fire Soul is wide, big and tall, like a train.It must have been the fire from the steelworks.Is it really Hachiman?Let me take it as Hachiman for the time being, because Hachiman is a place that leaves me with many memories. I saw another group of brilliant lights, the lights of tall buildings.Maybe it was the Tamaya department store where Haruko-san bought me presents when I was in junior high school. she sang: The journey to the east is far away and lonely. The heart of spring is like a tender moon, do you want to know? Maruyama's chair is burning with love. Lovers are happier. She also sang many love songs, all for me.Whether she sang it well or badly, it stays in my memory, deeper than anyone else's song, because it was a love song for me. She also sang: Under the same moon, you and I face each other across the sea. Deep in your heart, loneliness is like moonlight. The moonlight is like water, and the pale heart is stirring. Who, who can know your news? Do you know that a girl's heart misses you? Do you still want to, guess where your heart is panicking? However, the eighteen-year-old youth and the seventeen-year-old girl are on different sides. Is that the indifferent dream of youth?No!It is blazing passion.She trusts me completely and I trust her too.Her sister agreed with both of us, and so did my brother.At that time, I was very happy every day, and she was also very happy. She was smarter and more rational than me.I loved her reason and intelligence, and we wrote to each other almost every day, even though our time together was less than three hours together. what!Deep memories of distant days!Happy memories that will never leave my heart!The memories of Kyushu are too far away.Although we have crossed the distance and are connected with each other, we have to be alienated day by day.Two years later, the day of breaking up came.The breakup was made by me. One day, on a letter to me, my name "Shiro" had been altered.I was so annoyed and didn't write back after that because I was so dissatisfied.What does it matter if you write a wrong letter, envelope, etc. to your lover and replace it with a new one?I think what she did was very rude.This incident broke us off. If I didn't break up with each other because of this trivial matter, what would I do if I were still in a relationship today? While looking at the lights of Hachiman, I was immersed in memories, and my heart was full of sweet sentimentality.We won't see each other again, but I pray for her health and happiness. Will she think of me?If I can't forget her, won't she forget me too?I really want to meet you! The searchlights on the mountain on the right flicked back and forth in the dark sky, and several cities that never sleep passed by the boat. "Zenyang Maru" is constantly working hard towards the battlefield!Run to the battlefield! We have been living in a living environment that even the lower classes of North Koreans cannot live in. Our room was below deck, low and narrow, no, probably not a room.It's not a house, but it's not an outside either, it's just a floor.There are five people sitting in a place the size of a tatami mat, and there are some equipments. It is difficult to even turn around, and you can only move your head back and forth, left and right.The people crowded together, panting, foul and pungent body odor, countless flies flying on the dirt, dirty clothes that smelled of sweat, dirty straw mats spread on the boat planks, made of rough wooden boards. Exhausted by the tiresome monotony of a steam room with a stinking stench under a stinking ceiling, soldiers stare naked and greedily read scraps of paper cut out of magazines .Their bodies are wriggling like maggots at the bottom of a boat, and I think of the "Hachiman ship" [referring to Kamakura, Japan, during the Muroding period (about the end of the 12th century - the second half of the 16th century) that made waves in the China Sea in the distant past. Japanese pirate ships that were rampant along the coasts of China and Korea. ].Strong muscles writhe in heat, boredom, and uncleanness like the bars of a dog ring.But now, wearing military uniforms, you have to give full play to the nature of a soldier.This life goes on. On September 12, the ship reached the surface of Dagu. More than 20 military ships are moored there, and we are the only one.The sea water is turbid yellow, just like the Yellow Sea. Now we finally reached China.mainland!mainland!The long-awaited continent! But the mainland lay low on the horizon like so many ships on the water, stretching low beyond the far shore. Birds the size of sparrows flew around, not afraid of people, almost resting on our shoulders and hands. This vast sea scenery is not in harmony with our state of mind.Due to the relationship of longitude, starting from this morning, the time here is one hour behind our country.At three o'clock in the morning on September 13th, we were woken up to start preparations for landing.The wind and rain are very strong, and it is estimated that landing will be difficult. "Shanyang Maru" is located more than two miles away from the coast.In the surf, the heavy soldiers and horses boarded the liaison boat together, but the rope was broken by the wind on the way, and they left the tugboat and began to drift with the waves.Some of the soldiers were not used to water and were bitten by the horses, but they continued to work hard.I dragged my tired body from a cold and reluctantly made preparations for landing, but due to the lack of liaison ships, it was difficult to carry out the work, so I had to delay the landing. On the 14th, I finally gave the order to land today and get up at two o'clock in the morning.There was a lack of coordination and organization among the various ministries, queuing up for a while, resting for a while, just repeating this many times, and finally boarded the liaison ship at 7:30.I'm in the advance team, and I have to go ahead of the rest of the team.Although it was only September 14th, but within two and a half hours of arriving at Xinhe, my hands were numb from the cold.Even so, the Chinese people still push the bamboo frame fishing nets to walk in the muddy water.Push it, lift it up, and check for fish.I saw a Chinese man, with snake-like eyes and a gentle face, wrapped in shabby clothes that were barely wearable, sailing downstream with his wife and children in a sampan-like boat with a sail full of patches. go. They make the sail technique look very skilled, although sailing against the wind, the speed of the boat is not slow at all. After all, it is a continent, and there is not a single mountain. It is like a vast continent where grass and trees are planted and houses are built on the Sea of ​​Japan.Among the fishermen, some raised their hands and shouted "banzai" in weird Japanese.When I heard the "long live" cry of the Chinese people, I suddenly thought simply: yes!Exactly this!Our mission is here!It was not that Japan attacked China, but that the Chinese hoped that the Japanese would be of use to them.Even if the upper class in China resists Japan, it is our mission to join hands with the lower class. There will still be various ideas in the future, but those ideas will change according to the continuation of the war and the accumulation of experience.Now that I'm organizing this diary, even if some ideas are wrong, I want to keep them as they are.Why?Because from this we can know the trajectory of the mind. There are many Chinese houses built on the banks of the Baihe River.Their houses are all made of earth, and the roofs are like Japanese houses, with a slight slope and a slightly bulging shape.One by one, the Chinese came out of the house to look at us.One of them just came out and immediately squatted down by the wall to defecate.He said respectfully while looking at our boat leisurely.Where are the women?What are you doing? "Woo--", the whistle sounded, and a snow-white French warship moved its beautiful body and sailed downstream. The name of the warship "Falache's..." (Chinese medicine name, now uniformly written by Dan.) ", carrying French sailors in beautiful sailor uniforms, looking at our team.Advertisements with two large characters of "Rendan" (the name of the traditional Chinese medicine, now uniformly written as Rendan.) can be seen on the walls of the houses by the river.In Dagu, the foreign buildings of the United States, France and Germany all hang their respective national flags.The banks of the river are red soil.There are many houses on the left bank, and there is no sense of cultural atmosphere; on the right bank, there are houses and railway crossings from various countries, giving people a modern feeling.Thatch grows between the crevices on the river bank. What a vast expanse of land. Several 5,000-ton military ships were parked there, and our warship was docked heroically on the right bank.As if to counter it, French warships also flew their flags. The river is not too wide, but rather large boats can navigate freely on the river.The sky is vast, the trees stretch out lushly into the distance, and the White River flows in everything so vast and leisurely, like a painting.Some houses may be the barracks of Chinese soldiers, and there are traces of shells everywhere.The river turns right and continues upward until it reaches the New River.The landscape with the river on the mainland is like an illustration in an English book.The boat floated sideways on a wooden pier jutting out from the river.It's finally time to take the first step on the mainland. As soon as they set foot on the mainland, dirty Chinese people came to sell grapes.The thirsty throat wants to eat grapes, but the army prohibits buying any food from the Chinese, and that kind of food is so dirty that people really don't want to buy it.Someone bought the original manuscript, the text here is incomplete, it is "...deFrather" in French. After eating, I finally got a stomachache. There are already strong engineers at Xinhe Station.According to them, there are still plainclothes teams and spies, and our soldiers are attacked from time to time. Just before that, the soldiers of the supply unit were killed.Don't be careless about the children who come to beg for food. It is said that they also have contact with the plainclothes team.We said it was a railway station, but what we arrived at was a freight station. The conditions were poor but there were magnificent stone houses like government dormitories.Beautiful morning glories and tulips surround this home.Across the grass, there is a brick western-style building surrounded by high walls, inside which are soldiers in military uniforms, with the words "Shuiyi" written on the cloth strips of the military uniforms.They were engineers from Mito.Washing lunch boxes at the water pipe in the yard, listening to the conversations of these seniors in the mainland, our hearts are beating.There are small shops in the station.The so-called small store in the military camp is just a small house used to store things in the government dormitory.It was obvious from a glance that she was a woman in her thirties, with a pretty face, who was engaged in that kind of business, and was busy selling soft drinks, cigarettes, and yokan to soldiers.The Chinese cigarettes she sells are very cheap, only 5 cents for a pack of 20 (the currency unit in Japan at that time, 1 yuan equals 100 cents), which is a bit frighteningly cheap.Moreover, the smell of the smoke is particularly good, and the packaging is also quite beautiful.The woman also spoke nicely.Although she is a beautiful woman, she is weak and lacks energy, making people feel that she has just been ill.It is impossible to even dream of meeting a Japanese woman in this kind of place, so, strangely enough, I looked at her as if I were looking at the only precious jade.It is a pity that, although she made such a good impression on me, she later made me feel a kind of disgust.At the beginning, cigarettes cost 5 renminbi, soda water cost 15 renminbi, and yokan cost 10 renminbi. As the soldiers continued to buy them, the prices also rose. Our No. 3 Squadron failed to reach our destination during the day, so we had to pitch our tents and lie down on the grass while keeping an eye out for the scorpions.A scorpion is a kind of insect that looks like a shrimp, has a crab clip, and is about an inch long.A bite from one of these bugs anywhere on the upper body can kill a person within five minutes. It only took ten minutes for the lower body to be bitten.This is a terrible poisonous insect that is common in humid areas. The military doctor showed us a sample of the scorpion that bit a soldier of the machine gun team just now, reminding us to pay attention. On the morning of the 15th, we set off from Xinhe.The sun shone hotly on the earth.This was the first time I marched, and I felt extremely uncomfortable, and there was no wind at all. When my physical strength was exhausted and I could no longer continue marching, I finally arrived at today's destination "Junliang City".Speaking of the peace of mind when arriving at Junliang City, it is like the joy after the great uneasiness is released. Everything is forgotten, but the whole body and mind are deeply buried in the tranquility.However, that kind of joy is not ecstasy, but a bath after a long period of strenuous labor, the joy of lying deeply on the soft blanket, stretching the body freely, and breathing comfortably.